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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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TEN DAYS 



IN 



SWITZERLAND 






BY MRS. M. D. FRAZAR, 



Boston, Mass. 



price T 




ENTS. 



BOSTON : 
J. A. Cummings Printing Co , 252 Washington Street. 

1891. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1891, 

By MRS. M. D. FRAZAR, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 






Ten Days in Switzerland. 



CHAPTER I. 

TEN DAYS IN THE COUNTRY OF BEAUTIFUL SCENERY- 

THE GRAVE OF KEMBLE GIBBON'S GARDEN 

GLIMPSES OF MONT BLANC GENEVA 

THE HOME OF CALVIN. 



After busy, feverish days of sightseeing in London and 
Paris, the atmosphere of Switzerland is like a benediction. 

Leaving Paris in the morning, an all- day ride is made 
through France by the way of Dijon, and one arrives at 
night, after dark, at Lausanne. The carriage that takes 
us to our hotel winds up and up the hilly roads till we 
reach a sort of main street, and we begin to think we 
have arrived. But presently we stop ; a man jumps from 
the box and fastens some enormous chains to the wheels, 
and then we start slowly down an almost up and down bit 
of street, turn sharply to the right, and find ourselves at 
the door of our hotel. No impression can be formed of 
where we are situated, and after dinner we retire, to wait 
for the morning light. 

What a scene then lies before us ! Sloping to the shore 
of Lake Leman is part of the pretty town. There lies the 
exquisite robin's-egg blue lake, dimpling in the morning 
sunshine, and beyond it, and down each shore as far as 
the eye can reach, are the mountains, some lying in deep 



4 TEN DAYS IN SWITZERLAND. 

purple shadow, some crested with sparkling snow, and 
some sweeping down to the lake an unbroken expanse of 
green. Here and there upon its lovely water floats a boat, 
and we are so high above it that it looks like a tiny toy. 
No more enchanting introduction could be made to Swit- 
zerland than this, and it is difficult to drag one's self away 
from the view of lake and mountains even for a ramble 
through the town. 

All the streets are steep and narrow, and the only level 
place in the town seems to be the square in front of the 
cathedral. This square is also the market place, and this 
particular morning it was filled with temporary booths 
and heaps and sacks of fruits and vegetables, while most 
of the sellers were women, who kept up a constant chatter 
among themsel ves . 

The stores here in Lausanne are really attractive, the 
people interesting, the gardens and buildings fine, and the 
old Cathedral looming over it all seems to be the protector 
of the little town. 

In the cemetery lies John Kemble, the great actor, who 
died here. Near our hotel is the garden where Gibbon 
spent some of his busiest hours at work upon his " Rise 
and Fall of the Roman Empire." The house where he 
lived was close here, and this garden adjoined his home, 
while a little summer house, commanding a view of the 
glorious lake, was his favorite place for writing ; and he 
tells us that it was in this summer house, late at night, 
that he finished the last page of this his life-work. 

We left Lausanne for Ouchy by a short piece of cable 
railway which leads through a long tunnel, over which are 
streets and buildings. Ouchy is really the port of Lau- 
sanne, and it was here we took the steamer for Geneva. 
It was at Ouchy, while confined to the town by bad 



TEN DAYS IN SWITZERLAND. 5 

weather, that Byron wrote his " Prisoner of Chillon." 
The house in which he wrote it — the Ancre Inn — is no 
longer in existence, or rather it was made over into a large 
hotel. It is said that Byron was only two days in writing 
this nearly perfect piece of English verse. 

The steamboats on Lake Leman — or Lake Geneva, as 
one prefers — are essentially pleasure boats. The whole 
deck is open and covered with a canvas awning, while the 
small cabin is used as a lunch room. 

Sailing across the lake we stop at Evian, which is a 
fashionable watering-place, due to its excellent mineral 
waters. Tradition has it that Byron was once nearly lost 
just off Evian, on the lake, a terrible storm having arisen 
while he was out in a small boat. 

We next touched at Thonon, which is another delightful 
health resort, crossed the lake again to Nyon, where we 
saw the former home of Joseph Bonaparte, a handsome 
chateau, and then approached Coppet, where, commanding 
a rare view of the lake, stands the chateau of Madame de 
Stael and her father, M. Necker, the famous French min- 
ister. It is a large, plain building, having a tower at each 
end, and it was here, under the elevating influence of the 
eternal hills, that much of Madame de Stael's best work 
was done. 

And now we approach Geneva, with its breakwater and 
lighthouse, its graceful bridges spanning the rivers Eh one 
and Arve, its magnificent buildings and background of 
snow-capped mountains. On the left as we sail to the 
quay, between the lower ranges of hills, looms Mt. Blanc. 
We know it is sixty miles away, but so grandly its white 
peaks show in the sunshine that it looks to be just on the 
other side of the hills. 

Upon a nearer acquaintance with Geneva one ceases to 



6 TEN DAYS IN SWITZERLAND. 

wonder why so many Americans and English contentedly 
settle down here for a year or two. It is so immaculately 
clean that it attracts one at once, and its streets are broad 
and lined with trees, which also adds to its beauty. 

The great Rousseau was born in Geneva, and a little 
island, reached from one of the bridges, has his statue 
upon it. Here, too, came Calvin to live and preach, and 
after visiting his house, we went to the Cathedral, St. 
Pierre, where stands the pulpit and canopy as they did in 
Calvin's day. 

Perhaps the most notable of the sights in Geneva, to an 
American, is the room in the Hotel de Ville where the 
Geneva award was signed. Here are framed photographs 
in groups of the eminent lawyers America sent over to look 
after the interests of her citizens. On a raised platform, 
as a much-prized ornament, rests a real Yankee plow, sent 
as a gift from Ohio. In this Hotel de Ville, or City Hall, 
is the ancient Barons' stairway, up which the barons used 
to ride to reach the council hall. 

The museum is really a very enjoyable one and has 
some good pictures and statuary. It is named for its 
generous donor, General Path, who left his fortune to 
establish it. 

There is a very pretty Russian church that attracts most 
travellers, a beautiful theatre and conservatory of music, 
while most charming drives can be taken in almost any 
direction out of town. 

The hydraulic machines for supplying the . city with 
water are well worth a visit, and one can study the whole 
mechanism of the machines from a o-ood-sized model ot 
wood in the building. 

Another of the sights at Geneva is the junction of the 
rivers Rhone and Arve. Just below the town, with a 



TEN DAYS IN SWITZERLAND. 7 

narrow strip of land between them, flow the bright blue 
Rhone and dark yellow waters of the Arve. The best 
view of the junction is obtained from a pretty garden that 
is within a pleasant drive of Geneva, and at the entrance 
of which one can obtain a delicious lemonade or cup of 
coffee. The garden is high upon the bank of the Rhone 
and from the walks one looks down upon the two rivers 
rushing to meet ; and lono- after the waters ought to have 
mingled, they flow along together like a ribbon with one 
edge blue and one yellow. 

On the road out to these gardens one passes the immense 
wine vaults built in the sides of the hill, where wine is 
stored. The openings are closed with enormous slabs of 
granite, and each is numbered and dated. Pretty pleas- 
ure gardens and cafes are met with here and there, and 
troops of merry people come and go between these and 
the city. 

There is one feature of Geneva that attracts ladies, and 
that is the sealskin garments that can be bought for 
almost nothing in comparison to what we pay here at 
home. 

The music boxes also are exceedingly fine, and Ameri- 
cans, they tell me, are their best customers. I saw the 
duplicate of one that ex-Governor Ames had brought 
home for his beautiful house, and it was wonderfully fine. 
Patti, also, had just bought one of the best they had, 
and I heard it play the overture to William Tell. It was 
like a grand organ and orchestra combined. The barrels 
were about five feet long, and each one had a separate 
musical selection. When a particular opera or overture 
was desired, that particular barrel was inserted. I noticed 
that she had selected for its performance a goodly number 
of Wagner's works. 



8 TEN DAYS IN SWITZERLAND. 

Pretty jewelry abounds in Geneva, and wood carving as 
well. 

But one could ramble on -forever, on Geneva — and in 
it, too, for that matter — where one may idle away the 
hours of the day in walks, and drives, and boating, with 
silent hours of rest, watching the shadows creep over the 
mountains, and the glowing and fading of the sunlight on 
the crowned head of Mont Blanc, and where the evenings 
may be enjoyed in the pretty Kursaal Garden listening to 
the orchestra, the Kursaal Hall hearing a good concert, or 
wandering about to the different cafes where one may 
sip coffee and listen to selections of French opera and 
songs of the day. 



* 



CHAPTER II, 

FROM GENEVA TO BERNE BEARS AND CLOCK TOWER- 

ST. BEATUS' CAVE INTERLAKEN THE JUNGFRAU. 



Leaving Geneva one bright July day, we again passed 
by Coppet and JNTyon, on Lake Leman ; but this time we 
went by rail, and the piece of road is over one of the most 
beautiful sections of country in Europe. 

Being built along the sides of the vine-clad hills, we 
ricte for miles among' the vineyards, which are so close to 
the railway tracks that one could almost reach from the 
cars and pick the grapes. 

Far down the sweep of the hills lie quaint villages, with 
buildings looking for all the world like the copies we 
used to follow in our drawing-books at school. Across 
the brilliant *blue lake, from the other shore rise the ru°- 
ged, snow-capped Alps, with Mt. Blanc towering over all. 

As the sun rises higher and higher and its heat begins 
to be felt, from all the lower peaks stream threads of 
water from the melting snow. We watch them as they 
gather force from height and other mingling streams, and 
finally see them shoot over some projecting bowlder and 
fall, a glittering shower, into the lake. 

The light and shade on the mountains, the soft summer 
haze;* the snow, so brilliant in the sunlight, together with 
the glorious expanse of lake, and nearer view of gorge, 
deer/ valley, vineyards and picturesque towns, make up 
this marvellous view. One seems to have arrived at a 



10 TEN DAYS IN SWITZERLAND. 

plane above this world of ours, and to be looking back 
upon its beauty and sweetness, just as one looks back 
upon happy years from the plane of a prosaic life. 

From Lausanne we go to Berne by way of Freyburg, 
and have a very good view of this strikingly picturesque 
town. The suspension bridge across the valley is one of 
the finest in the world. The bridge is supported on four 
cables, each cable having about 1,050 wires. The cables 
are then run into the ground some distance at each end of 
the bridge, and are then carried down some shafts cut in 
the solid rock, the shafts are filled with masonry, and the 
ends of tjie cables, coming still from the shafts, are fas- 
tened to huge blocks of stone. It is said that Switzer- 
land supplied all the materials for this bridge ; that the 
iron came from Berne, the masonry from the quarries in 
the Jura and the woodwork from the forests around 
Freyburg. 

Freyburg is built upon the high bank of the winding 
Saane River, and the old wall and battlements about it 
make it interesting and peculiar. 

At Berne we make a stop, for there is much to see in 
this old town that was founded in the year 1191. As you 
all know, the meaning of the word Berne is bear; but 
perhaps you do not remember that the founder of the 
town killed a bear upon this site, and named it so on 
account of this event. 

One of the sights in the town is the bear-pit, where 
some poor specimens are confined. Large numbers used 
to be kept at the expense of the city ; but when the French 
got into Berne, they carried off all the bears to Paris, and 
put them in the Jar din des Plantes. However, after 
peace was declared, the bears were again made — one 
might almost say — household gods. All the fountains, 



.TEN DAYS IN SWITZERLAND. 11 

signs and public buildings have a bear of some sort upon 
them, and the armorial badge of the town is the bear. 

The high bridge over the river Aar is one of the sights 
of interest in Berne ; it is ninety-three feet high, and 
from it one obtains a very pretty view of the city. The 
buildings are nearly all constructed with heavy arcades, 
but these are lower than in most other cities in Europe, 
and consequently the stores are very dark, and are not so 
attractive to strangers. 

There are numerous fountains about the streets, and 
from these the people are constantly caiTying water. Some 
of these fountains are very odd. One in particular repre- 
sents a hideous ogre, who is eating children, and doing it 
with a relish, too. It is said that the mothers in Berne 
« frighten their disobedient children with this realistic 
figure, and threaten them with being taken and devoured 
by this same monster. 

One day when I was in Berne there was a fete, and all 
the fountains and buildings were draped with bunting, and 
wreaths and flags were flying from every available spot. 
Directly opposite our carriages — we were a party of 
Americans — we caught sight of the American flag, flung 
to the breeze from the window of the American consul at 
Berne. It would have done your heart good to hear the 
shout of greeting we gave it. We waved our handker- 
chiefs ; the gentlemen took off their hats and waved them ; 
we gave three cheers, and then three more. One can form 
no. conception of the joyful and proud swelling of heart 
with wdiich one views the dear old flag when coming upon 
it in a foreign city and country. The people on the streets 
stopped and watched us with smiles of sympathy, for the 
Swiss are eminently patriotic. They took in the situation 
at a glance, and showed no surprise. It is a fact, however, 



12 TEX DAYS IN SWITZERLAND. 

that to the European nothiDg is surprising that an Amer- 
ican does. >Ve have the reputation of being a most eccen- 
tric people, and long ago they gave up. over there, expect- 
ing us to do as thev do. But thev like us. as a whole 
people, and to the common people of Europe our country 
seems like a land where gold grows in the streets, and one 
has only to stoop : and gather it. 

The cathedral is a line specimen of fifteenth century 
architecture, and has a grand organ which is played each 
day at 6.30 P.M : so that for a franc one ma v hear a o-ood 
concert whenever in the mood for it. 

The cathedral terrace is the place in Berne for the view. 

It is built upon a wall of solid masonry, over a hundred 
feet above the bank of the Aar, has a high parapet, pretty 
trees, walks, and seats, some booths, where Swiss wood 
carvino-s are sold, and a handsome bronze statue of the 
founder of the city, who killed the bear. Berthold Y., of 
some unpronounceable Swiss place. 

Below this terrace, directly under the wall, there are 
one or two old streets with houses so quaint and foreign 
that they delight the eye By these streets llows the river, 
and here upon the banks are the women and children 
busily at work with the washing, kneeling beside the flat 
bit of plank or stone, while with a flat wooden sort of 
paddle they slap and bang the garments, occasionally 
dipping them into the water, and again scooping up some 
water upon them by means of the paddle or their hands. 

The view from this terrace is unrivalled. The whole 
range of the Bernese Alps lies spread out before us. and 
by the purple depths or faint haze between the snow 
mountains, one can judge of the immense distances that 
lie between them, and the deep valleys and depressions 
that separate them. Between this outer wall of snow 



TEN DAYS IN SWITZERLAND. 13 

peaks and us lie range upon range of lofty green moun- 
tains and rolling, undulating hills, and over these the sun 
is shining, bringing out all the delicate tints of green and 
brown that only nature can paint. 

We see the Wetterhorn, like a marble mountain in the 
blue distance ; while in the nearer range lies the Niesen, 
barren and lonely, and nearer yet, the lower green range 
of hills. 

But the chief object of interest in Berne is the clock 
tower, which stands very nearly in the centre of the town, 
and where four of the principal streets cross each other. 
It was built by this same Berth old V. — who killed the 
bear — in the year 1100 and something, and was at that 
time part of the outer wall of the city. Five minutes 
before the hour is to strike, people begin to collect in 
front of the tower to watch the puppets work. It is best 
to see it when it is o-ohw to strike a number of times. 

Three minutes before the hour a wooden cock at one 
side of the clock flaps his wings and gives a lusty crow ; 
then we wait one minute more, when, on the opposite side 
of the clock, where there is an image of an old man sitting, 
out comes a small procession of bears, and these walk 
around the old man; then the cock gives another crow, 
and we hold our breath and try to look all over the tower 
at once, for fear we will miss some part of the show. 
And now, on the top of the tower, a fool, in cap and bells, 
strikes a large bell with a hammer. The strokes of this 
hammer are counted by the old man, who turns an hour- 
glass, raises a sceptre he holds in his other hand, and 
while doing all this he also opens his mouth. There is 
another bear, that, at the same time, bows his head. As 
a wind-up to the performance the cock crows again. 

It is great fun, not only to watch the clock, but to 



14 TEN DAYS IN SWITZERLAND. 

watch the people in their eagerness to see it all, for they 
keep calling out to each other to watch this or that figure, 
and for the first comer it is rather bewildering to grasp 
it all. 

One feels well repaid for haying seen Berne, and finds 
the short railway journey to the Lake of Thun very pleas- 
ant. Passing Thun station, the boat is taken at Scherzli- 
gen, which is the railway terminus on the shore of the 
lake. 

The boats are exactly like those on Lake Leman, and 
one prepares for an hour and a half of keen delight on this 
lovely sheet of water. The lake is about eleven miles 
long and two wide, and near the town of Thun the hills 
that rise from it are covered with vineyards, villas and 
woods of pine and oak. Some of the villas are very 
handsome, and are owned by titled and wealthy people, 
who come to this quiet spot to enjoy a few months' rest 
from the busy cares of society. 

As we go further down the lake the mountains on the 
left become rugged and grand, and we see sheer preci- 
pices hundreds of feet high. On one of these mountains 
we see a small cascade leaping down toward the lake, and 
just above it there is the Cave of St. Beatus. This holy 
man, so the story goes, came over from Britain to convert 
the Helvetians to Christianity, and looking about for some 
convenient spot in the mountains where he might make a 
hermitage for himself, he espied this cave. Unfortunately, 
it was already occupied by a dragon, but St. Beatus 
ordered him from the cave, and so great was the power of 
this holy man, the order was immediately obeyed. The 
legend has it, also, that the saint always crossed the lake 
upon his cloak, which, spread upon the waters, bore him 
in safety across. 



TEN DAYS IN SWITZERLAND. 15 

The boat stops at the several landings where there are 
tiny villages and hotels, and finally brings us to Darligen, 
where we take an observation car on the railway, and in 
five minutes find ourselves at Interlaken. 

It is impossible to tell wherein lies the charm that all 
people find in Interlaken. The little town is built along 
one main street, and is made up almost entirely of hotels 
and stores. By hotels, of course, I mean the lodging 
house and the "pension" as well, together with the res- 
taurants that must go with these. 

The best hotel, both for comfort and location, is, I 
think, the Beau Rivage, for it lies at the end of the town 
just by the pretty bridge that crosses the river Aar, while 
back of it runs the river, and from the bank rises a wooded 
mountain, while at its base and close to the river runs the 
same little piece of railway that brought us from Darligen. 
In front of the house there is a beautiful garden, with 
trees and fountains, and all about are little tables and 
comfortable seats and chairs. One may breakfast or 
lunch here, al fresco, spend a whole day with a book from 
the library — just off the drawing-room — or sit in the even- 
ing shadows and listen to bands of singers from Naples or 
from the Swiss villages among the mountains. 

From the windows and the garden, rising between two 
beautiful wooded mountains, we see the wonderful Jun^- 
frau. It is twenty miles away, but in its white purity, 
rising against the bright blue sky, it looks to be not halt 
a mile from us. Every hour of the day it changes its 
color as the sun strikes across its glittering snows, and 
the enormous glaciers throw deeper and deeper shadows 
as the day wears late. At night, when the sun has set 
and the little town is nearly dark, we sit and watch the 
wonderful light that glows upon this " young maiden," 



16 TEN DAYS IX SWITZERLAND. 

for we are so shut in by the mountains that the sun can- 
not reach us, but can still throw its last lingering rays up 
to the white breast of the Jungfrau. It flushes from 
orange to deep red, then fades to palest pink, and finally 
dies away in tints of tender gray that fall into dark shadow. 
And so she sleeps, till the next glad morning with its first 
sunbeams touches her to vivid life again. 



CHAPTER III. 

SWISS HOUSES ALPINE HORNS STAUBBACH FALLS 

THUMB AND FOUR FINGERS — SAUSAGES MUSIC AT 

NIGHT KURSAAL. 



There is no spot in Switzerland more convenient for en- 
joyable excursions than Interiaken. One of the most 
thoroughly delightful ones is to go over the mountains to 
the village of Lauterbrunnen, to visit the Staubbach Falls. 
TTe leave Interiaken in the morning by carriage, and 
shortly roll through the streets of a typical Swiss village. 

The houses are built with the long, sloping roof that 
overhangs a sort of balcony, and under the eaves of this 
roof are hanging to dry bunches of corn and the family 
linen. Upon the roof are laid rows of huge stones, to 
hold it down when the terrific winds sweep through the 
valley. 

Upon the fronts of many of the houses are statements 
as to the age of the house, the builder, and often a text, 
and these have the letters carved in the wood. 

The arrangement of the Swiss house is peculiar. The 
lower portion is reserved for the cattle, the middle for the 
family, and under the roof is stored the food for both the 
family and the cattle. 

The road to Lauterbrunnen follows the winding of the 
Lutschine River, a rushino;, foaming stream, and this leads 
up till we reach a sort of plateau, from which the view 



18 TEN DAYS IN SWITZERLAND . 

of the mountains and the two valleys of the river is some 
thing grand. The river is here divided by a sort of tongue 
of land, and the two branches of the stream are called the 
Black and the White Liitschine, from the muddy, dis- 
colored waters of the one and the clear, transparent waters 
of the other. 

Here and there along the road are peasants with the 
long Alpine horn, and tossing to them a few sinall coins, 
we are repaid by hearing the long, musical notes froni the 
horn echo and re-echo from cliffs and mountains till the 
whole air seems full of music. 

Little children and women run along beside the carriage 
and offer for sale luscious plums and the pretty hand-made 
lace for which the women in this section of Switzerland 
are noted. The prices are moderate, and there is nothing 
unpleasant in the manner of offering it to a possible pur- 
chaser. 

As we wind along by the river, on our right rise wooded 
mountains, with here and there places where the heavy 
snows of winter have torn a wide path down the sheer 
sides, taking in their train trees and rocks, and down 
these paths will come dashing streams from the melting 
snows on the summits ; and among the broken and scat- 
tered rocks tender ferns and bright green mosses, together 
with delicate wild flowers, are courageously growing. 

Across the river the mountains rise in shapes like vast 
cathedrals and castles, and before us rise the Silberhorn 
and the Jungfrau, covered with perpetual snows. 

The little hamlet of Lauterbrunnen lies in a green valley 
surrounded with mountains, some heavily wooded, some 
crass grown, others of bare ragged rock crowned with 
snow, and the white majestic Silberhorn ever keeping its 
silent watch. 



TEN DAYS IN SWITZEKLAND. 19 

The little inn at which we put up the horses is a busy 
place, for it is the rendezvous for all the parties that come 
here to visit the Falls. Parties for a mountain climb are 
ready to set forth, each clad in true regulation rig, stout 
boots, heavily nailed, short skirts for ladies, short trousers 
for gentlemen, wide hats, with bunches of wild flowers on 
the side, and the Alpen stock. A troop of merry people, 
mounted on sturdy mountain horses, are bidding last good- 
bys to some friends, and we hear that they are going up 
to Murren for the view, and will return later and take 
their carriages back to Interlaken. 

All about, on the sides of the hills, are the chalets of 
the peasants, the whole population of the little village 
being about 1400. The chief industries are wood-carving 
and lace-making. 

During the long, cruel winter, while they are shut into 
their valley by snow and ice, they work busily for the 
large dealers in these goods at Berne, Lucerne, Geneva 
and Interlaken. The wood carvings are exquisite, and 
one cannot fail to wonder where these lonely people get 
the knowledge for this remarkable work. The trade is 
handed down from father to son, and the results they 
obtain are marvellous. The most intricate and perfect 
piece of work they accomplish is a reproduction of the 
Swiss chalet. Even to the most minute detail it is per- 
fect. It is then fitted with a music-box attachment, and 
also with a complete wine set, in pretty glass. The roof 
lifts for finding the wine set, but the music-box is hidden 
in the lower part of the house. 

Another very novel arrangement which they make is a 
chair that has under the seat a music-box, so that when 
one sits in it the machinery starts and one hears the strains 
of some familiar opera. 



20 TEN DAYS IN SWITZEELAND. 

All around the valley where Lauterbrunnen lies tiny 
streams of water are fallin°; from the summits of the moun- 
tains. I counted one day thirty of such fine silver threads, 
for there had been snow on the tops for some days, and a 
hot sun had come out and the snow was rapidly disap- 
pearing. 

But the fall we had come to see was the Staubbach, or 
" Dust Stream," that falls from a height of 900 feet. It is 
so slender a stream and hits a projecting surface of the 
cliff at such an angle that it is thrown into a delicate spray 
that looks like lace, or golden dust, as the sun happens to 
strike it. At times as the wind blows it, it looks like long, 
streaming; white hair. It is said that when the clouds are 
low and settle down upon the summits of the mountains 
that the Staubbach Falls seem to spring from the very 
clouds themselves. 

We walked up the tiny, winding path through the field 
{hat brings us to the foot of the Falls, and sat for an hour 
watching the different forms the stream took and the rain- 
bow tints as the sun shone upon it. 

At the entrance to the path a boy was stationed with a 
small cannon, which for a few centimes he would fire, that 
we might hear the wonderful echo. 

The piece of road leading from the inn up to the Falls 
has along one side a row of tiny shops where lace, wood- 
carvings and odds and ends made from horn and agate are 
sold. Back of one shop the man keeps some pretty, 
graceful chamois, and near another a young fellow has four 
or five magnificent St. Bernard dogs. 

The drive back to Interlaken was full of interest and en- 
joyment, for every aspect of the mountains is delightful. 
One very curious combination of gigantic mountain peaks 
along our route makes a nearly perfect thumb and four 
fingers. 



TEN DAYS IN SWITZEELAND. 21 

Having an extra day in Interlaken to dispose of, various 
members of our party decided to spend it in various ways. 

Some went to visit the wonderful Grindelwald glaciers ; 
some made an ascent of one of the high mountains ; some 
made it a complete day of rest and spent the whole time 
in the garden among the flowers and fountains with that 
most excellent of all companions, a good book ; while some 
of us took a long walk through two little villages and a 
ramble in the beautiful wooded slopes on the bank of the 
river. 

Near one of these villages we came across the funniest 
sight I think it was ever my fortune to see. Not far from 
a small farmhouse was a fenced-in family graveyard, with 
a most imposing monument. The family had evidently 
been preparing the regular supply of enormous sausages 
for the winter, for all along the fence and hanging in fes- 
toons across the monument were strings upon strings of 
them drying in the sun. 

In the evening it is very gay in Interlaken, and strains 
of music greet one at every turn. Bands of singers from 
the mountains come down to the hotels and give concerts, 
in which the real " Yodel'* is heard to perfection. These 
peasants wear the true Swiss costume, that is so fast dis- 
appearing, and the women are very smart, with their 
enormous starched sleeves, black bodices and silver chains 
pendant from the shoulders. 

The voices are strident and coarse, but the novelty of 
the music lends it a certain charm. 

But when a little band of singers from Naples stroll up 
the quiet street, dressed in bright and glowing colors, and 
each with a mandolin or guitar, we are all in a flutter of 
excitement, for the setting of this music is just right, the 
soft and tender summer night, the faint, sweet odor of 



22 TEX DAYS IX SWITZERLAND. 

flowers and trees, the far-off glimmering stars, and in the 
trembling light we catch the glint of dark, passionate eyes 
and o-leamino- teeth. 

And now comes a musical little prelude, and a clear, 
fine tenor voice begins the refrain of " Funiculi, Funicula/' 
and presently the merry chorus strikes in " Tra la, la, la," 
and as our pulses beat in unison with the jolly music, 
there comes the peculiar little snap we all know so well, 
and the brilliant electric lights flash and turn the whole 
scene into fairyland. With one of these companies of 
Italian singers is a blind girl, who plays and sino-> well. 

Xear the hotel there is an open-air theatre and concert 
hall, and every evening there is a lively performance and 
concert of some sort. ' , 

Xot far down the street, and in the heart of the little 
town, is the Kursaal. where a superior orchestra is en- 
2'ao'ed everv season. A laro-e music stand, the top of 
which forms an immense sounding-board, is built in the 
beautiful o - arden, while in the gravel walks are innumera- 
ble small tables, with chairs, where people sit for the 
entire evening drink beer and listen to the music. The 
Kursaal itself has a large reading-room well supplied with 
papers, a refreshment-room and grand dance hall, together 
with a room where games of chance are o- rno- on all the 
evening, and where a person may lose or win four or five 
francs during that time. 

And so the time goes in quiet Interlaken, and one 
brio-ht, sun^hinv morning we wake to find our stav here at 
an end, and we betake ourselves and our belongings to the 
small railway again, en route for Lucerne. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE BRUNIG PASS — LUNGERN SEE ROTZBERG OLD 

BRIDGES MUSIC OE THE ORGAN THOR- 

WALDSEN'S LION ASCENT OF THE 

RHIGI CLOUD EFFECTS. 



From Interlaken to Bonigen, where we take the little 
steamer on the Lake of Brienz, is only a few moments 
ride by rail, in observation cars. The lake is beautiful, 
with its setting of wooded mountains, is about nine miles 
long and two wide, and has a depth, in some portions, 
of 2,000 feet, while its average depth is 500 feet. 

Just before we strike across the lake to the town of 
Brienz we touch at the Giessbach landing, and watch the 
passengers take the cars on the little mountain railway for 
the hotel. Shortly after leaving the landing we pass the 
famous Giessbach Falls and have a most excellent view of 
them. These falls are unique, and look more like an 
artificial waterfall than one formed by nature. They come 
leaping down the side of the mountain over what seem to 
be terraces, and are closely shut in by the rich green fir 
trees and tangle of underbrush and ferns, till the}' reach 
the shore of the lake, when they tumble in silvery beauty 
into the blue depths. 

Giessbach is a popular resort for travellers, and one of 
the chief attractions here is the illumination of the falls 
each evening during the season. The effect of the colored 
lights on the sparkling steam is magical. 



24 TEN DAYS IN SWITZERLAND. 

Crossing the lake, we land at Brienz, and at once take 
the cars for the trip over the Brimig Pass. For the first 
three miles the road is comparatively level, then at the 
foot of the mountains we stop at a station where, after 
much backing and side-tracking, the train is divided into 
sections, with an engine for each, and, with a start of 
perhaps five minutes between each train, we begin the 
ascent of the Pass. As we climb up and up the scene 
below us broadens, until the whole wide valley of the Aar 
lies smiling in the sunshine, with its background of snow 
mountains and gleaming waterfalls. 

All the way up the Pass, in the most impossible looking 
spots, we find the small houses of the hardy Swiss peas- 
ant, and are sure to discover that he has chosen a level 
plateau — however small — and that it has a southern ex- 
posure, where every ray of the sun may be a benefit. 

On the summit of the Pass we have lunch, and then in 
the same detached cars begin to crawl down the other side 
of the mountains. And here a new view presents itself. 
We look down upon the valley of Sarnen, with grim 
Mount Pilatus as a background, and in the near distance 
see the pretty Lungern See — in reality a small lake. This 
was once a large sheet of water, but the peasants in the 
neighborhood, desiring to acquire extra lands for cultiva- 
tion, fifty odd years ago tapped this lake and let off the 
water, till they had reduced it to one-half its size. It is 
said that it involved a labor of 19,000 days, and that it 
was performed by the peasants. The gain was five hun- 
dred acres of excellent land. 

Gyswyl, one ot the little towns Ave next pass, has quite 
a history. Two hundred years ago the torrent Lauibach 
brought such a mass of timber, rock and general refuse 
into the valley that the river Aar became dammed, and 



TEN DAYS IN SWITZERLAND. 25 

half the village was swept away. The pent-up waters of 
the river made a large lake that lasted for one hundred 
and thirty years. This lake was finally let into the Lake 
of Sarnen by means of an artificial canal. 

And now on the left lies the Lake of Sarnen, a truly 
beautiful sheet of water, and skirting its shore we pres- 
ently i each the town of the same name, the capital of one 
of the divisions of a canton, and the seat of government. 

The character of the scenery about here is entirely 
different from that we have been seems;. The moun- 
tains have dropped to gently swelling hills, upon whose 
sides are vast orchards and gardens, and the whole valley 
presents an appearance of quiet thrift and harmony. 

There is nothing striking in the scenery between here 
and Alpnach-am-Grstaad, when we take the boat for 
Lucerne. We are really on Alpnach Lake, shut in by 
hills and mountains, with ^iant Pilatus looming on our 
left, his head lost in the clouds. 

Passing through a narrow strait and through a bridge 
that extends from the village of Stanzstad to the opposite 
shore, we see the picturesque watch tower that is five 
hundred years old. The story of this tower is that a 
boat loaded with Austrian partisans was swamped by 
having hurled into it from this same tower an enormous 
stone . 

I neglected to say that on the shore of Alpnach Lake is 
the castle of Rotzberg, which was the first stronghold of 
the Austrians that the Swiss got possession of. Of course 
a woman had a finger in this pie — as usual. One of the 
young servants in the castle had a Swiss lover, who 
occasionally visited her by means of a rope ladder. By 
this same convenient means of transit he introduced a 
number of his companions, who easily surprised and over- 
powered the garrison. 



26 TEN DAYS IN SWITZERLAND. 

And now the lake broadens, and again the mountains 
reach high toward heaven, and sweeping around a bend 
past Kramers tein and Stutz we reach Lucerne. 

The view of Lucerne from the lake is strikingly beauti- 
ful. Along its lake front extends a broad promenade 
shaded by handsome horsechestnut trees ; along this are 
built imposing hotels and the fine Kursaal. Back of the 
city there is a part of the ancient wall, with some of the 
watch towers in good preservation. 

The city is divided by the river Reuss, and a wide 
handsome modern bridge leads from the railway station 
to the chief side of the city. Other bridges cross the 
river, two of which are very old and curious. The lower 
one, nearest the station, is called the Kapell Bridge, and 
from the timbers that support the roof seventy-seven 
paintings on wood are suspended. They represent scenes 
in the lives of the two patron saints of Lucerne — St. 
Leger and St. Maurice — and scenes from Swiss history. 
In going from the right to the left shore the pictures are 
those of the saints, while in going in the opposite direc- 
tion those of the history are seen. 

Close to this bridge is the old watch tower that once 
was used as a lighthouse, and which gave the name to 
Lucerne — " Lucerna." Still another old bridge, and far 
more famous than the Kapell, has paintings representing 
the "Dance of Death." 

The church — St. Leger — is one of the most interest- 
ing in Europe. It has regular seats, and the wood- work 
is so old it is full of holes and perforations. The organ 
is arranged with reference to the effects that can be pro- 
duced Avith such an instrument. 

Every evening at 6.30 there is a concert, and words 
fail me to describe the delicious harmonies and melodies 



TEN DAYS IN SWITZERLAND. 27 

that thrill the very air about one during this hour. The 
vox humana stop in the organ is marvellous, and one can 
scarcely believe it is not a human voice that rises and falls 
with the flood of hiirmony. Suddenly there comes a 
sound of distant thunder, but it is swallowed up in a 
grand religious chant that has caught up the one wonder- 
ful voice. But in a moment it comes again, nearer than 
before, but through it all the chant goes on. Then comes 
a sound of rushing wind through great trees, and the 
branches bend, and sway, and sweep together, and a ter- 
rific crash of thunder shakes the very stones under our 
feet. Down eomes the rain, first in great splashes, then 
in hurrying drops, and then in a down-pour, and occasion- 
ally, through it all, one catches a strain of the solemn 
chant. Then the storm begins to subside, and we hear 
the roll of the thunder far beyond the hills. The rain 
ceases ; birds begin to twitter and sing ; the leaves shake 
off their clinging drops ; afar up the hillside we hear the 
tinkling of sheep-bells ; and from the great organ comes 
swelling forth the full harmonies of an anthem, while high 
above it all sings the one pure, clear voice, as if coming 
out of heaven itself. 

Was it all a dream ? 

Through the open doors the soft evening light comes 
stealing in. A rustle and deep murmur of pleasure all 
about us brings back the present and the reality of what 
we have heard. 

Yes, it was all the organ. The voice, the chanting, 
the thunder and storm, the song of birds and branches. 
Listening to such music the boul rises above petty worldly 
cares and disappointments, and for a time at least, we 
walk with the angels. 

The chief attraction in Lucerne is the monument to the 



28 TEN DAYS IN SWITZERLAND. 

Swiss guard who fell while defending the Tuilleries at 
Paris in the first revolution. When friends and servants 
deserted Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, the Swiss 
guard remained faithful, and fought like tigers to protect 
them, and when that failed, to cover their escape. The 
design of the monument is by Thorwaldsen, and the work 
was done by a sculptor from Constance, Ahorn by name. 
It represents a colossal lion who is dying from a spear 
wound in the side — the spear is broken in the wound. In 
spite of the death agony he is suffering, he is trying to 
protect a shield upon which are engraved the fleur-de-lis 
of the Bourbons, Avhich shield he holds in his paws. The 
lion is carved in the side of the solid rock, is twenty- 
eight feet Ions: and eighteen feet high. Below the lion 
are carved the names of the officers who fell during 
this terrible time. All about the face of the monument 
are growing mosses, ferns and creeping vines, and in front 
of it a large basin receives the clear water that flows down 
beside the cliff from springs higher up. One of the most 
beautiful things that T. B. Aldrich has given us has this 
monument to point its moral : — 

" We ask fair wind and favorable tide; 
From the dead Danish sculptor let us learn 
To make occasion, not to be denied. 
Against the sheer, precipitous mountain side 
Thorwaldsen carved his lion at Lucerne." 

Seats to accommodate the visitors are placed in front 
of the monument, and many persons sit for hours and 
study this grand conception of strength, valor and faith- 
fulness. 

Near here is what is called the Glacier Garden, and one 
can see the effect of the marvellous action of the glaciers 
in the circular wells, or holes, produced by a constant 
rotary motion. 



TEN DAYS IN SWITZERLAND. 29 

The ascent of the Rhigi is an excursion that all visitors 
at Lucerne make. The boat leaves for Yitznau several 
times a day, and the sail is very pleasant. Shortly 
after leaving the pier we pass on the left a high sort of 
promontory, upon which is a fine chateau, and just here 
opens up another arm of the lake, called Kussnacht, while 
on the right opens Alpnach Bay, by which we came to 
Lucerne. 

Arriving at Vitznau, we enter the cars for the trip up 
the Rhigi, and find them open upon all sides, with the seats 
going across, like an open horsecar. The journey up is 
much more comfortable than upon the Mount Washington 
railway, and one does not have that disagreeable sensation 
of being choked by the angle at which one's head is kept. 
Each car has a locomotive, and these are not connected in 
any way, so that in case of accident to the engine the pas- 
senger car would not be dragged from the track, but would 
hold by its own brakes. Coming down it rests against the 
engine, and going up the engine pushes it. 

I wish space allowed for a description of this railway, the 
engines, and the ingenious contrivance of the brakes, but 
it would make a chapter in itself. 

One of the strange things about the ascent of the Rhif>i 
is that at short intervals the train stops at various large 
hotels, built upon the level plateaux, and from one of them 
a branch road leads off around and down the mountain on 
another side. 

At one place the railway crosses a bridge, so frail and 
so high above the horrible gorge below that one holds the 
breath till the solid earth is again under the tracks. 

The kulm, or summit, of the Rhigi has no trees, but there 
is green turf, and until the absolute summit is reached 
there are masses of tiny bluebells growing everywhere. 



•': EBH IaVS EV BWDZKKLANI 

A large hotel is found here, with handsome parlors and 
dining-rooms, and during the whole season the house is 
crowded with guests each night, who come up on the chance 
of seeing the sun rise. 

Back of the hotel there is a still higher point to be 
reached on the mountain, and here are found nuniberle — 
dealers in small article- : Swiss laanufaeture, who gen- 
erally do a good business with the tourists, for each per- 
son wishes to carry home a souvenir of the trip up among 
the clouds. 

I: is a rare occurrence to have a good day for the view, 
for mist and clouds are nearly always hanging over the 
Khigi. A day when the clouds are sweeping over it and 
rolling off is the best time to really enjoy the view. For 
the fleeting glimpses of the whole Bernese Alps are so 
_ nd — the Lake of the Four Cantons, in shape lik- 
cross; the blue Lake of Zug; Pilarus, dark and grim; 
and the vallevs and villages below. 

The cloud effects are wonderful. Sometimes they will 
come roiling up about the summit like gigantic wa 
that swallow us up in mist and rain : in half an hour all is 
commotion again, and the wind will tear and rend the 
clouds till they are masses of shreds and tangled odds and 
ends ; and while this is going on the sun will come out 
and all around us are bits of rainbow and clouds of r 
and violet. 

Then these melt away, the sun grows clearer, and far 
below lies the ljeautiful picture we saw before. 

High above the world you may look down upon its 
material beauties, and study nature in all her grandeur 
and majesty. 



CHAPTER V. 

GEESAU WILLIAM TELL LAKE OF SEMPACH — BATTLE- 
FIELD OF ST. JACOB HOLBEIN AS A HOUSE PAINTER 

AN OLD TRADITION FAREWELL TO 

SWITZERLAND. 



In coming down the Rhigi we experience that peculiar 
sensation that the lakes and villages are coming up to 
meet us. People who make balloon ascents speak of this 
feeling when coming down, and it is strikingly noticed in 
the descent of the Eiffel Tower at Paris. 

Taking the boat again at Vitznau, on the lake, we pass 
between two rocky headlands, one a projection of the Rhigi 
and the other of the Burgenstock, and known as the 
" Noses." 

It seems to us that we have reached the end of the lake 
but presently we sail into a large oval-shaped lake, or 
rather, as it is called, the Gulf of Buochs. Buochs is a 
pretty village on the shore from which it takes its name. 

On the opposite shore is Gersau, which has a most 
peculiar history. It occupies perhaps a space of three 
miles long by two wide, and is almost wholly on the slope 
of the mountains. For four hundred years this little spot 
was an independent state, having perhaps 2000 inhabi- 
tants. The people bought their freedom from the lords 
of Lucerne, whose serfs they had been till then. It took 
them ten years to collect the necessary sum, which history 



32 TEX DAYS IX SWITZERLAND. 

says was 690 pounds of pfenniges. This freedom was 
bought in 1390, and they governed themselves, electing a 
governor and council till the year 1798. 

One fact is worthy of mention in regard to the public 
policy of Gersau during: these years. Although they had 
a strict criminal jurisdiction of their own, and a public 
gallows, not a single execution took place during these 
four hundred years. 

Gersau is so sheltered by mountains and the sun shines 
upon it so warmly that it is called the Xice of Switzer- 
land, and many persons spend the winter in its pleasant 
hotel. Passing around the promontory of Trieb the boat 
crosses the lake to Brunnen. and here opens the beautiful 
bay of Uri, one of the most beautiful in Switzerland. 

Brunnen was once of great importance commercially, 
and was the place with which all Italian business was car- 
ried on. Its position is fine, commanding both branches 
of the lake and the extended mountain ranges. 

The Bay of Uri, or Bay of Fluelen — whichever one 
wishes to call it — is like none other in Switzerland. The 
mountains rise from its waters in sheer precipices, and are 
most wild and imposing. The lake is said to be over 1100 
feet deep. 

Just across from Brunnen there is a peculiar slab-like 
stone projecting from the lake, at the foot of the precipice, 
and upon this is carved a tribute to Schiller, who so 
graphically and beautifully has told the stoiy of William 
Tell. Here we are in the midst of the scenes where, 
according to tradition, Tell lived and fought for his be- 
loved Switzerland. 

Just beyond the Schiller rock, the precipice drops a 
little ; some earth has fallen from above, in which some 
fine trees have taken root and nourished, and near these is 



TEN DAYS IN SWITZERLAND. 33 

a small green spot, which history points out as the rendez- 
vous of the three founders of Swiss liberty and freedom. 
They met at dead of night in this isolated spot, in the 
fourteenth century, and so carefully and perfectly were 
their plans laid and executed that their country was freed 
from the hated Austrian rule. 

Upon this green spot the tourist is invited to drink of 
three springs that miraculously sprang up upon this meet- 
ing-place ; and one drinks to the memory of these hardy 
and patriotic sons of the mountains both with admiration 
and respect. 

On the opposite shore, at the foot of the Axenberg, on 
the margin of the lake, is Tell's Chapel. Upon this spot, 
according to the story, Tell jumped ashore from the boat 
in which Gessler was taking him a prisoner, to Kussnacht 
— up nearer Lucerne. 

The chapel is nothing but a sort of open arcade, lined 
with the commonest and rudest sort of pictures, repre- 
senting historical scenes in the freeing of Switzerland. 
Once each year mass is said in this chapel, and boats bring 
people from every part of the lake to do honor to the 
memory of William Tell. 

In this prosaic nineteenth century they are slowly, but 
surely, smashing the idols of our past veneration. Chris- 
topher Columbus is painted for us as one who was " up 
to snuff," and having found out from the Icelanders that 
there was a promised land over here, came and discovered 
it ; Pocahontas never risked her head for John Smith ; a 
man in Venice told me this very summer that Othello was 
no Moor, but that his name was ''Othello More"; and 
they tell us that such a man as Tell never performed the 
feats of valor we have loved him for. The nineteenth 
century is all right, but a line must be drawn somewhere ; 



34 TEN DAYS IN SWITZERLAND. 

and amidst the scenes of Swiss history, and seeing the 
devotion of a whole people to even a myth — if it be one 
— let us hold fast to the myth with them, and offer freely 
our own sympathy and admiration. 

From here to Fluelen, at the southern extremity of the 
lake, is only a short distance, and then we return to 
Lucerne. 

No pleasanter place to pass an evening can be found 
than the Kursaal at Lucerne, and visitors from all the 
hotels stroll in here during the evening to hear the music 
and eat ices. A pretty theatre forms part of the estab- 
lishment, and during the summer light operas and popular 
plays are presented. 

And now the time has come when we must say adieu 
to Lucerne and the glorious mountains we have learned to 
love so well, so we take the train one pleasant morning 
en route for Bale. 

Our last glimpse of Lucerne is something to always 
remember. We cross the rushing river Reuss as it flows 
from the Lake of Lucerne, spin across the river Emmne, 
and looking back, see Lucerne lying along the lake with a 
background of glittering: snow-crowned mountains, and 
between us and the city the undulating line of battlemented 
wall, with the old watch-towers rising here and there 
above it. 

Soon upon our sight appears the beautiful blue Lake of 
Sempach, and it was near these shores that a memorable 
battle for Swiss independence took place. One of the 
most heroic deeds of valor that history has left us was 
here performed by one of the Swiss knights. The Aus- 
trians had nearly routed the Swiss troups, and were press- 
ing them back to defeat with their advancing spears. With 
a cry to his countrymen to remember his wife and little 



TEN DAYS IN SWITZERLAND. 35 

ones, Arnold of Winkelried sprang to the front and gath- 
ered into his opened arms all the spears he could grasp, 
forcing them into his bosom. The surprise and the break 
this made in the Austrian rank gave the Swiss the one op- 
portunity they needed, and they rushed upon their foe, 
who, loaded with armor, were no match for the swift and 
hardy Swiss when once the solid opposing ranks were 
broken. Hundreds of the Austrians were killed, and each 
year anniversary masses are said for the repose of the souls 
of those who perished in this battle. 

Olten, the railway junction of several lines, is rather a 
pretty town, nestling in the valley of the Jura. 

There is, in all these towns, an air of thrift and pros- 
perity that is very attractive to a New Englander. The 
spirit that urged them on to free their country from 
oppression and cruelty urges them to an individual inde- 
pendence, that shows itself in each farm and in each 
village. 

As we approach Bale through the valley of the Rhine, 
we pass another historical spot, where a small band of 
Swiss soldiers met and fought a superior number of French 
troops under the Dauphin — afterward Louis XL This 
was called the battle of St. Jacob, and was to Switzerland 
what Thermopylae was to Greece. The Swiss fought so 
bravely, and showed such determination and valor, that 
the French saw how advantageous it would be to gain 
them as allies, rather than to have such sturdy foes upon 
their own border. 

The section of country around this battlefield has numer- 
ous vineyards that bear a grape which produces a very red 
wine, called " Schweizer Blut," literally " Swiss Blood.*' 

The railway crosses a graceful bridge, and we find our- 
selves at Bale, at the busy, bustling station. It is here 



36 TEN DAYS IN SWITZERLAND. 

we make our first acquaintance with the river Rhine, which 
divides Bale, making two sections of the town — Great and 
Little Bale. On one side stretch the hills of the Black 
Forest, and on the other the majestic range of the Jura, 
while the " Blue Rhine sweeps along," and winds away 
into the distance. 

The cathedral is, of course, the chief object of interest. 
It was begun in the tenth century, but was mostly rebuilt 
during the fifteenth century, after an earthquake had 
nearly destroyed it. Many famous people are buried in 
the crypt, and in the chapter house, which one reaches 
from the choir, are preserved the only remaining frescoes 
of the original " Dance of Death," that was painted on the 
walls of the Dominican church in Bale in 1400 and some- 
thing, as a remembrance of the plague. I believe it is not 
known who painted these frescoes, although some authori- 
ties say Holbein did them. But as they were in existance 
fifty years before he was born , this opinion does not count 
for much. 

Holbein lived some six years in Bale, and they were 
years of hardship and poverty, which last drove him to the 
painting of houses as a means of support. England seemed 
to offer a prospect of success for him, and he removed 
there, to meet fortune and fame. In the museum at Bale 
— which, by the ay ay, has many valuable pictures and an 
excellent collection of bronzes and coins — there are many 
of Holbein's best works, and quite a number of his original 
drawings. 

The people of Bale have an intense pride in their city, 
and gifts for public purposes are constantly being made. 
The population counts among its number many persons of 
wealth and standing, and it is quite an aristocratic centre. 

Till nearly the year 1800 the clocks in Bale were kept 



TEN DAYS IN SWITZERLAND. 37 

an hour ahead of those in all other Swiss towns. An old 
tradition said that the city was once saved from a terrible 
surprise, owing to the failure of a conspiracy. This con- 
spiracy was that the gates should be opened to the enemy 
as the clocks struck twelve at midnight, but, in some mir- 
aculous way, the clocks struck one instead of twelve, and 
so the signal failed. 

Our ten days in Switzerland are gone by, but they 
have been days full of profit and delight, and the memory 
of them will linger with us wmile life lasts. The mystery 
and majesty of the everlasting hills brings us into closer 
communion with Nature's God. We learn patience from 
the study of the lonely peaks lifting their gray and pallid 
faces ever toward the sky ; we learn to look for the 
bright and sunny side of life as we wait and Avatch for the 
sun to touch the snows into rose and gold ; w T e lose the 
w r orldly fever and unrest that hurries us through life as 
w r e allow the quiet influence of the grand stillness to steal 
into our hearts. 

We say farewell to Switzerland, and as we look back 
longingly for a last glimpse of its beauties, a soft mist 
seems to arise that shuts out the fair picture ; and turn- 
ing toward Germany, as one turns from a deep pleasure 
of life to new experience and hope, lo ! a tear falls. 

One may shed tears of regret, and still they may be 
happy tears, and surely the remembrance of these ten 
days in Switzerland will be any other thing than a sad 
regret. 



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